I have been married for 23 years. Not bad for a man in his mid-forties. Nevertheless, CBS’s Survivor is so old that I watched its first season with a previous girlfriend. Joy, if you’re out there, I still can’t believe Rudy lost that immunity challenge.

There is more in this vein if you want it. Survivor is older than George W. Bush’s presidency, Apple’s iPod, and Vermont’s “civil unions.” When it premiered in the spring of 2000, you could buy a McDonald’s hamburger for a buck. Although other prime-time series like 60 Minutes and The Simpsons have been around longer, none offer viewers anything like Survivor’s participatory appeal. Fans who have watched for a quarter century can still dream of playing the game themselves one day, or of watching their grown children on TV. While most of the 50 million people who watched the inaugural season’s finale have moved on, Survivor remains for its core audience a ritual, a touchstone, and a steadfast friend.